by theygamesStar Citizen is one of the most intriguing but also incomprehensible projects in videogames history. While the concept of a feature-rich galactic MMO is absolutely a viable and exciting one, the amount of money that backers have sunk into it over its 12 years of development is extraordinary. Now, Star Citizen has reached another unbelievable milestone – it has raised over three quarters of a billion dollars.
Its crowdfunding ambitions (and lack of a 1.0 launch after well over a decade) have led to a lot of ‘scam’ labels and accusations around whether a finished product will ever arrive, but Star Citizen continues to shrug them off – and more importantly, people continue to invest in it. The scope of the space game continues to expand, and the playable alpha of its persistent world is constantly being innovated on. It’s also slapped a release date on its single-player campaign spinoff game Squadron 42. But as for when Star Citizen will be considered ‘finished’ or ‘fully released’ – it’s one of those things that’ll only truly be believed when it’s seen.
Nevertheless, its fundraising tally continues to grow, and today, November 28, Star Citizen crossed the $750 million mark. That’s according to Cloud Imperium Games’ own data shown on Star Citizen’s website, which also gives hourly, daily, and monthly breakdowns of how much it raised in those given time frames. For example, as I sit here writing this, Star Citizen raked in roughly $60,000 in the last hour. Not too shabby, eh?
The game’s last big milestone of $700 million was hit on May 28 of this year, so it’s taken exactly six months for the MMO to generate another $50 million in funds. If the investment continues at that rate, Star Citizen should hit the billion dollar mark at some point in 2027.
The site also shows how many players have registered to play Star Citizen, and that’s clocking in at over 5.4 million. Not all of these will be players that have paid for access, as Star Citizen occasionally hosts free events that let people try the game out for no cost – in fact, that’s exactly what it’s doing right now. However, if I break out PCGamesN’s big orange calculator (we don’t have a big orange calculator) that works out as roughly $138 per player.
It’s a truly mind-boggling number. Three quarters of a billion dollars. I keep speaking aloud just to try and comprehend it. The budget and plans at Cloud Imperium have become so huge that Star Citizen’s previous stretch goals, which would have been considered ambitious at the time, have been left in the dust for years. I understand why this game continues to generate so much skepticism and wariness, but there’s no denying that it’s a remarkable feat.
Alongside giving Star Citizen a go while it’s free, why not check out some of the best MMOs that we recommend playing. These co-op games are also brilliant for those wanting to embark on new adventures with friends in tow.
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